Police Pursuit Liability free essay sample

Police Liability and High Speed Pursuits Rodgers There is a line in the Bible that states â€Å"sometimes the wicked flee, when no man pursueth, (Proverbs 28:1, King James Version), law enforcement officers know only too well that there are numerous instances in which motorists flee, despite the fact that they are being pursued, and are lawfully being commanded to pull over and stop, for purposes of investigation, citation for traffic offenses, or for arrest of a more serious crime. Police pursuits and liability is no doubt a vast subject, which has given rise to many schools of thought. On one hand, it is believed that pursuits are worth the risks that are taken, while on the other hand, a completely opposed thought believes that pursuit activities are far too dangerous and should be abandoned. Whatever your belief, the truth lies somewhere in between regarding police pursuits and liability which in order to explore one must review various aspects of legal and moral decisions to analyze police pursuit driving and its potential liability. Laws regulating police pursuits are both criminal and civil in nature and differ among states and other jurisdictions. General principles of liability which are applicable to police pursuit driving include but are not limited the following: duty owned, proximate cause, immunity, the federal civil rights act, law suits by injured officers and criminal prosecutions (Alpert Dunham, 1990, p. 12) Certain duties and obligations of police officers must be determined by local policies, regulations, official orders, customs, and laws. It is accepted that a police officer can initiate the stop of an automobile for any particular violation or suspected criminal offence. If a motorist refuses to stop, an officer has no duty to refrain from pursuing, unless permitted by his/her departmental policy, even where there is some risk of harm to the public. However, police must act with a duty of care and reasonableness when pursuing the offender. This duty is created from state statutes, case law, and departmental policies and practices. In most jurisdictions, the departmental pursuit policy, procedure, practice, training, and proper supervision can all help determine the duty owed. When a claim of negligence is made, a court may admit into evidence the information that has guided the police pursuit’s actions. Specifically, the method by which officers, deputies, and troopers alike, determine the nature of the real or apparent emergency, the conduct during the pursuit and reason for not terminating the pursuit are all significant factors that must be weighed when determining the due regard for yourself, the offender, and the publics safety. The most important concern for a police officer is to be aware of the action taken at the end of a pursuit. In other words a police officer must know what actions to take if the pursued refuses to terminate voluntarily? An interview was conducted with Sgt. *** ****** of the Michigan State Police Precision Driving Unit, during which we talked about an officers options should he choose to end a pursuit via force or a precision maneuver. We discussed the three options available to the members of the Michigan State Police, those being the rolling roadblock, precision immobilization technique (PIT), and the use of stop sticks. ** ****** explained to myself that the use of a physical roadblock is not an option unless all lesser means have failed and deadly force was authorized. However, the precision driving unit has created a technique in conjunction with other national agencies, which is taught to all troopers, that being the rolling roadblock, which allows 3 troopers while pursuing an offender to quickly box the offenders vehicle in using a stationary object such as a guard rail or retaining wall. The proper use of this technique causes minimal to no damage to the police patrol cars or the offenders vehicle. If three trained officers/ troopers are not available during the pursuit and conditions allow it a PIT maneuver can be conducted, this maneuver takes place at speeds of 45 miles per hour or less, and can also be completed with minimal to no damage ensued by both the offender and officer/ trooper. Lastly we spoke about the use of stop sticks, he informed me that they will not always end a pursuit however merely slow a vehicle down to speeds which are much safer, lowering the liability which is placed upon the officers/ troopers. He also elaborated stating that often times the stop sticks is the fist method used to stop a pursuit, if the pursuit doesn’t end then speeds may be reduced enough for a pit maneuver. (*** ******, Michigan State Police) Not every case in which things went wrong is easily interpreted. Liability must be based on evidence that police conduct was breaching the duty owed and was the proximate cause of a pursuit-related injury. On one hand, if a police car speeds recklessly through a school zone when children are present, such a determination can be made easily. On the other hand, if there is an intervening influence, such as other drivers or pedestrians, then determining negligence becomes increasingly difficult. Police pursuits don’t always go as hoped and sometimes end with serious injury or fatal motor vehicle accident. The number of deaths is spelled out in Motor vehicle crash deaths related to police pursuits in the United States, by F. P. Rivara and C. D. Mack, Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center (April 2004) There study examined all traffic fatalities in the U. S. rom 1994 to 2002 and determined that 2,654 fatal crashes resulted from police pursuits, involving a total of 3,146 deaths. According to the study, 1,048 of the decedents were not in fleeing vehicles, but rather were occupants of another vehicle, pedestrians or bicyclists. Forty police officers died in the course of such pursuits. In conclusion, we know that police pursuits are unsafe, however the pursuit of criminals and the protection of society on a da ily basis is a necessity. Therefore we entrust that the men and women whom keep us safe make the appropriate decision when presented with such.